Developing AI Agents with Foundry and Visual Studio Code

AI agents are transforming how we automate tasks, but building them requires a structured approach to design, testing, and deployment. Understanding how to orchestrate these agents using modern cloud services and development environments is a critical skill for today's developers. This text-only course guides you through the foundational concepts of agentic workflows and shows you how to bring them to life. You will learn how to set up your development environment, leverage Foundry Agent Service, and use Visual Studio Code to write, test, and deploy intelligent agents capable of executing complex tasks. What you'll learn: Understand core AI agent terminology, architectures, and foundational design patterns; Configure your development workspace using the Azure portal and Visual Studio Code; Build customizable AI agents utilizing Foundry Agent Service; Apply basic prompt engineering principles to guide agent behavior and decision-making; Test and debug your agents locally in Visual Studio Code before deployment; Deploy your finalized agents to cloud environments for reliable execution. You will start by mastering foundational AI agent concepts and terminology before moving step-by-step through environment configuration, agent creation, testing, and cloud deployment. Each concept is reinforced with practical code snippets and written exercises designed to build your confidence. This course is designed for beginners, developers, and technology enthusiasts who want to start building AI agents; no prior experience with agentic frameworks is required. Start reading today and build your first autonomous AI agent.